Trolley wire support



1943- s. s. MATTHES TROLLEY WIRE SUPPORT Filed Jan. 16. 1 3 Sheets-Sheet1 3nnentor SAMUEL JMAZIHEJ (Ittomeg 1943' s. s. MATTHES 2,325,788

TROLLEY WIRE SUPPORT Filed Jan. 16, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IS nmntorSAMUEL AS -MZTI'HES 1943- s. s. M'AII'1LHES v 2,325,788

TROLLEY WIRE SUPPORT Filed Jan. 16, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 & a

8 a l Q o N K\ :g Q q o o N o o o a o o o L 0 1 \2 O g o g no N g N N NI Inventor k l\ SAMUEL S. MHJTHES inventicnl- 1 Patented Aug. 3, 1943 p7 21325.7 8. *rno r-nvnuanfsurronr ,1 Samuel Q'Matthes; ltlansfieThe'0hioBrass1Company, Mansfield, Ohio, a

' oorperationofNew Jersey H I, .jlilpplieationlanuary is, 1940, swarm.314,117; s

, O io; nor. .to: 1,

-Myi invention 'relatesto ahsupportifor trolley wires, in overheadtrolley construction; principally for trolley bus operation. In trolleybus p'eration two parallel trolley wires of opposite polarityaremadeuseof. fl.

7 One object-of myinvention'is to provide means for s'upporting'thetrolley wire and avoiding 'amultiplicity of supports and orosswires j} iI Another object of. myinvention; is 1: provide' a' support for trolleywireson? curves in which the support-is adjustable to'meet variousdegrees of curvature of the'trolley'wire. i j Another object of 'myinvention is to: provide means which will supp ort the severed ends ofatrolleywireonacurve. Still another object of my invention flto providemeans which will support the trolley wire without severing itscontinuity either permanent; 1y or temporarily. w y I f Other objectswill be obvious to 'those' skilled in the art as I proceed with thedisclosure of my My invention resides infthe new and novelconstruction,combinationandrelation of the parts hereinafter described and shown inthe drawings accompanying this specification.

Inthedrawings' i. I Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my invention arrangedfor two trolley wires. i

Fig. 1 5 is'altop'pl an viewof a modification of 7 my invention-i" "Fig.1615 a of Fig. 15.

* In the preferred embodiment r-my invention,

' Iemploy a bar l, preferably rectangular'in cross section --'and oisuehfdimension's as to; meet ref quirem'ents "insome cases beingapproximately previou'sQdevioesjthe bar corresponding to mypresentelement l has been ma de of angle, channel or T barto'give itrigidity after being formed to shape by machinery.In'my-presentconstruetion the bar 1 must be bendable in the hands ofworkmeninthe directionof curvature inforder to adjust it to-meet variousdegrees of curvature eitherduring or after installation; p

Each end ofthefbarl isprovidedwith a clevis with registering transverseopenings. Also each end of the bar l is provided with trolley wire tipsV T to receive andi ho-ld the trolley-wire inpredetermined'relationtothe barf The tips are pro,- vided withtransverse openings registering with the preyiouslyme'ntioned openingsto receiv se- 7 curingnieans such as bolts'or; screws; The tip Fig. 3 isa 'front viewin elevation of my in:

vention.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged top view of the strain plate shown in Fig.1. V

Fig. Sis a side View of the strain plate shown in Fig. 4 and'alsoshows'in dcttedlinesits manner of attachment'to the curved bar which Iem-I p oy.

Fig. 6 is a top view of an angle attachment whichI employ and laterdescribe. j Fig. 7 is a side View of Fig. 6, Y i, Fig. 8 is a section ofFig. 1 on the line 63'ii,, Fig. 9 is a side view of an end tip to whichthe end of the severed trolley wire may be secured.

Fig. 10 isa top view of Fig. 9, A Fig. 11 is a side view of a tip foruse when the trolley wire is continuous through the support.

Fig. 12 is a view in section on the line i2-I2 of Fig 11. p Fig; 13shows a modification of Fig.1;8 andis. used when the trolley wire is tobe continuous through the support. j i i r f Fig. 14' showsdiagrammatically the method employ in the adjustable feature of myinvention;

shown inlFi'gi il requires the -'trolley fwire to be I severed andthe-end slid in'tothe groove inthetip and heldby the set screw 3, andthe tip shovv'r'i in Fig} ll' 'is arranged "to receive and hold thetrolley Wire when it is c'ontinuo'us throjuen the.

support as shown in Fig; 15' and is providedjwith lips'll'jshown in Fig.1-2 to clinch aroundthewire after being placed in the groove '5. The-setscrews fima'ybeius'ed', if desired, maid in pretothejsupport. j a I-."Attachedto therbar I. intermediatejits endsis the" strain plate 1,and themanner of detachably securing the 'parts' together is shownin'Fig; 5

- inwhich the threaded:studj-8', we1dedto th upper portion of the-bar,projectsthrough an opening in the plate-landi-ssecured by-anut. I Thestrain plate 1 is an elongated body oimet'al with.atransverse-recess,portion 8 and droparms 9 and l0 projecting therefrom.This construc tion brings gthestrain and fsupportingwires (r 1 0 t sh wnh QhJmarbe eQured in enines. l I

and l 2, in horizontalalignment .or.-substantially the ller W re. apwer; d i t e 8,ii's an'angle'attachmentI3. j' This attachment is shownas an elongated bar I: formed irorha partial section ontheline 15 i? 7spacedrelation; each:support comprising; an; elongated curved ba'n'ofmetal-bendable: in theldirection of= curvature, .:a:"tr,ansversely;disposed plate attachedrto 'therbar;intermediateits ends and!projecting: laterally'rto each side of the bar, means at each end'ofthe'plate towhic-h attachments thereto may Jae-made, tension rods ex--tending from' the bar on:v opposite sides of' the platecto the plateandadjustablyvsecuredtheretowhereby the curvature of the'ba'rs may bevaried and maintained; insulating means at? tachedtothe firstsaidtmeansio nj the inner ends of the said plates of the twosupportswhereby the supports are held spaced, parallel and insulatedrelation. 7

6. A'strain plate for a trolley wire supporting devicefor use on'curves"andincluding-anadjustablecurved part having a guiding edge for a currentcollector comprising, a relatively thin elongatedbody of metalhavingfaicentral portion and arms projectingoppositely from said centralportion, the central portion being ofiset with respect tov the plane ofthe" arms andhaving means to receive, supporting means onthe said partof the device to'be' supported by the plate whereby. the said partis/secured' to the plate withthe said guiding edge substantially in theplane of the arms, means on' one arm to. receive supporting means forthe plate and meanspn the other arm to'receive the ends of tension rodsextending to 'the; aforesaid part whereby the connection of thetensi'onrods to thelplate maybe variedand thereby the curvature of the saidadjustable curved part changed;

7. A strain plate for an adjustable curved part adapted to support atrolley: wire of? an overhead" curve comprising; an elongated body ofmetal having three portions,.'namely-, an intermediate portion and two'end portions projectingin opposite directions from'the intermediateportion; the intermediate'portionhaving means to cooperate with means onthe said adjustable curvedpart to secure the two together; means wire ona curve in overhead construction; com'-' prising, an elongated curvedbar having'mea'ns to secure the trolley wire thereto 'in' predeterminedrelation; a transversely disposed .plate secured toithe bar intermediateits ends and'proje-ctingllaterally in opposite dlrectionsfrom the 'bar',meanson each end of the plate to cooperate with supporting means for theplate; a ten sionrod extendingfrom opposite sides oi th'e plateand'attached to the bar at opposite: sidesof the plate whereby thecurvatureof the barmay bea'djust'ed, meansoni-the plate to secure thefree 'ends ofthe rods'to the plate in art-- justable relation theretoan'd rneansi on each sideof theplate to guardthe device against a flyingtrolley head: wedgingi between any of the above parts, thesaidguardsieach comprising a bar of metal attached to the plate: andhaving an' apertured end through. which aperture the tension.rodextends; eachj guard being. so posia tio'ned as to; obstruct the@entrance of the trolley head into thespace between thefirod, bar andplate. P

9; A hanger and pull-on; device Vfora' trolley WiIBii on: a' ourv inoverheadconstruction com prising; an; elongated: curved "bar with means7 to secure :the trolley wire theretoin predetermined relation;.-atransversely disposed plate secured 'to 'thelbar intermediate: its: endsan'dprcy je'cting laterally in opposite directions from thebar-',-meanson-each end of the plate to cooperate with supporting.means-for the plate;

tension rods extending from opposite sides-oi the plate and attached toa-point' adj acent' the ends of the-bar Wher'ebyithe',curvature of thebar' may Ice-maintained against-the stresses set up bythe'ti'ol'leylwir'e, meanson theiplat'e' to secure the free. ends of therods totheplate; the bar" and the platefand thetension rods form-- ing a'triangular opening? on each'side' of the: plate, meansvon each side of.the plate to guard the devicesagainst a flying 'tro'lley'head wedgin'gin theropenings', the said'guards' each comprisingl'a'barof'metalextending between thertension rodandithepla-tei and atta'c'hedto the plate and tension rod-"iii" movable relation 1:0"- each to:prevent-the entrance" out the trolley head; into the space between ithe? bar;. the" rotl and the plate. 7

10: In combination; 'a'strainr plate with means to receive"supportingmeans. therefor, a curved liar with means 'tot attach thebar'to: the" plate, a continuoustro1ley-wire, means on *the pl'ate toengage the trolley? wire andihold-thewire in'pre- I determinedrelation'to' the p'late and to the: bar,

mean at'th'e endslofthe ba'l tbi: receivet'the wire" and hold it inpredetermined relation" to the bar; a pair of tension rods, eachrodfihaving one end adjustaloly attached to the plate:' and'the'J otherend associated with the baron opposite sides of the plate and spacedtherefroin; thetrolley= wireprojecting away' from! each end" of the barand-substantially: in alignment with"the"axis of the adjacent rod 'andm'eans on the plate? co operating with' theattac'hed endsof the rodswhereby the position of attachment of'therods f to i' the plate may' bevaridi therehywh'a-nglng the 'c urvatu'reof' the bar'.'-"

11.1A trolley 'wire' support for curves in an overhead trolley system Acomprising, curved bar of" metal having means at'each'en'd' oi the barto holdthe' trolleywirein position relative to the bar; a strain plate?attached to 'thei'bar adjacent its longitudinal center, elongated.) attachingrpla'tes' of? metal secured tD"thebEtE along its convex side andspaced from the ends ofthe bar,vthe attaching plates preventingz'bendingof the barwithinthe lengthofieach attaching plate: and each platehavingva portion spaced lateral'- 1y from thezbar to providea"longitudinalchannel; ac'tension rod'for eachcattachingiplate and each rodhavinggoneren'd -rsecuredto7 the attaching plate and; the; other enda-ttached to, the strain plate whereby the curvatureaof-the' barismaintained against the stresses of the trolley wire,- the end portionsof the bartpro-jecting 1ongitudinally frornthewouterends of theattachingplates and adapted to bend lateraily'unden stressfof-thetrolley. wire. whereby the said-portionsc may-automaticallyadjust themselves into alignment with the trolley 1 wire: and 'thetension' elongatedjrbar of bendablefmaterial formed to. a

extending' toward the projectingrmember, .ad-

the other ends associated with the transversely disposed member atdifferent positions thereon equally spaced from the bar at adjustabledis-' tances therefrom an'd whereby the curvature 01 that portion of thebar subtended by the said elongated members after adjustment may bemaintained against side pull of the trolley wire -those portions ofthebar projecting from the subtended the curvature of the bodymember rnayvbe varied; l

justing' means extending longitudinallyalorigthe opposite sides'lof thelaterally projecting and spaced: from thebody memben; means co--,operating witl'ithe adjusting means and with the other ends of thetension memberstesecure the ends of the members toi the laterallyprojecting means in adjustable relation thereto. whereby 17 A supportfor a trolleyfwire formingapart of a curve of antoverheadsystem'comprisinfg in f combination, a curved bar, meansto secure thetrolley wire to the bar, support meansotfixed Y length secured totheba'r' intermediate the ends portion being adjustable into alignmentwith the trolley wire independent of the'adjustability'of the subtendedportion and means associated with the. bar-to secure the trolley wire to.thezban,

13. A device .to support a-trolley wire forming part of an overheadsystem comprising, anelongated bar of bendable metal formed, to apredetermined radius of curvature, a transversesupport member attachedto the bar adjacent itslongitudinal center, tension means extendingiromthe bar on opposite sides of the, support member to the support memberand attaching means associatedwith the transverse member to de-.tachably secure the tension meansto the 1transverse member atdifferent'positionsl thereon "at adjustable. distancesfrom the bar,whereby the radius of curvature of the bar may be'either increased ordecreased without altering the position of the curved bar on thetransverse member and the curvature of the bar maintained againsttheside-strain of the trolley wire after adjustment of the radius ofcurvature, and means associated with the bar to secure the trolley wirethereto,

14. A trolley support for use in a'curve of an overhead trolley systemcomprising, an elongated bendable bar formed to a predetermined radiusof curvature, means associated with the bar to hold a trolley wire, asupporting plate attached to the bar adjacent its longitudinal center,elongated means extending from the bar on opposite sides of the plate tothe plate and means on the plate to receive the elongated means andadjustably secure the same to the plate at differentpoints thereonwhereby the radius of curvature of the bar may be changed from the saidpredetermined radius of curvature.

15. In combination, a strain plate with means to receive supportingmeans therefor, a curved bar'with means thereon to attach the bar to theplate intermediate its ends, a continuous trolley wire positioned alongthe convex face of the bar and projecting away from each end'of the barin substantial alignment therewith, means associated with the bar tohold the trolley wire inposition therewith, elongated means extendingfrom the bar on opposite sides of the plate to the plate and attachingmeans associated with the plate to detachably secure the elongated meansto the plate in different positions thereon whereby the curvature of thebar may be changed to conform to the desired curvature of the trolleywire.

16. A trolley conductor support comprising an elongated laterallycurvable metal body member, means associated with the body member toposition the trolley conductor in predetermined relation to said bodymember, laterally projecting means attached to the body memberintermediate its ends, tension members secured at one end adjacentopposite ends of the body member and of the bar and strain means offixed length acts ,ing in opposition to the stress set up by the trolleywire and ext'ending'from the bar on-opposite side of the support meansto the-support means, the support means and the strain {means beingsoconstructed and related to -eachother that the; curvature or the bar maybeg'changed by changing the connected relation of the strain means tothe support means. I V r 18. A support for a-trolley wire forming apartof an overhead system comprising in co-mbina tion,. a curved bar, means"to gsecurezthe trolley wire to the bar, support means ior'the barsecured to the bar adjacent the longitudinal center thereof and strainmeans acting; in opposition to the stress setup bythe trolley wire? andr extending from the bar on opposite side of, the

support means to the support means and so con.- structed and related' tothe 1 bar and support means that thecurvatureof the bar maybe changedwithout changing the length ot the strain'means oraltering thepositionci; the bar on the support-means, the support means and the barand the strain means iormihgancpening oneach side of the support means,and means extending between and attached to at least two of the lastsaid parts forming said opening to prevent the entrance therein or adewired trolley head.

t 19. A strain plate for a curved trolley wire support membercomprising, an elongated body of metal, means on the plate intermediatethe 'ends thereof to which the trolley wire support member may besecured, means on the plate to receive means by which the plate may besuspended and means extending along the plate adjacent to the oppositelongitudinal edges thereof to receive the ends of tension meansextending to the trolley wire support whereby the connection of thetension means to the plate may be varied relative to the trolley wiresupport member and thereby change the said curvature of the curvedmember.

20. A trolley wire support for use on a curve in. anoverhead systemcomprising, an elongated bendable bar of metal formed to acurve ofpredetermined radius, the said bar having a lower edge adapted toengagewith and guide a current collector across the support, means associatedwith the bar to hold a trolley wire in predetermined relation to thesaid lower edge of the bar, a laterally projecting support memberattached to the bar intermediate its ends, tension means extending fromthe bar on opposite sides of the projecting member to the projectingmember and.

attaching means associated with the projecting member to detachablysecure the tension means to the projecting member in different positionsthereon whereby the radius of curvature of the bar may be increased ordecreased. 7

21.'In combination, a strain plate with means fe jatte liin tsunnerts threta awed bar r bendable m aterial to 'guidej'a current collector,Ineans'seeuring thebar' and the plate together at substantially tlongitudinal eenter of the bar a ainst r la ive len itu a m t a tinupglstrolley wire forming part of a curve in overhead trolley systemand'exten'ding-fro-m the ends ofthe bar'to-the-plate and projecting"away from 'the'ends' of the -bar:in substantialalignmenttherewith-means attachingthe trolley wire to the end of thebar, other attaching n eans associated with the plate-and detachablysecuring the trolley wire to the plate in difierent positions thereonwhereby the included angle formed by the trolley wire'between the ends"of the bar may be adjusted andheld at a'p'redeter- 'mined value and'the projecting trolley wire in substantially longitudinal alignmentwith the 'ends of'the bar.

In combination a strain plate withmeans -to seeure lt to happening-meanstherefor, an elongated baref -bei1dablema-terialtermed to apredetermined curvature and having --it s lower longitudinal edgearranged to guide a current collector, .means seeuring the bar to theplate .agai-nst relative longitudinal movement, a continueus trolleywire donning part of a curve in an over-head trolley system extendingfrom end to end oi the -bar and securedto-the strain plate and formingan angle having a predetermined angular spread, ,means securingthetrolley wire to theends ei the bar ether attaching means-assooia-tedwith the-plate and movable longitudi- =nally thereof adjustably securingthe subtended portionofthe trolley wire to the plate, the las't saidadjustable feature together with the benda l pr pert at mete pe m t n'tthe ad u me pit e roll wire an h lba b 'ineth trolley wire and tneendsOf theibe 111 llQ l'git siinel al nment the rods with-respect enemasdevice' to support a trolley wire-and form apart of an overheadtrolleysystem -eoni-prising, elongated bar "oi -bendable -metalfor'med'to'a predetermined curvature, -a transverse support secured to the baradjacent its longitutherefrom whereby the curvature of :the oarsubtendedbyathe said elongated'mean's maybe either increased or decreased and.the adjusted curvature wmaintained against side strains in serviceandmeans associated with the bar to secure the trolley'wire to the bar.

'24. A support for atroll'eywire formin'ga part of a eurve of anoverhead system, co-mprising, a

curved yieldable barof metal having a lower-edge adaptedvtoguide-acurrent collector on a curve, meansiat-eaeh end of barto receiveandholdthe trolley :wire .with the lower edge of those portions -of:.theWireprojectinglongitudinally from thebar inwali'gnment withthe loweredge of the barjan elongated strain plate positioned transversely toztheibarland attached thereto at the upperedge of the zbarzmeans..associated with the plate to receive and hold :the :trolley Wireintermediate its subtended :length and other 1 means .-to receive meansfor supporting :the vdevice, rods associated with the ;bar'and;p1ate andextending from -a point adjacent the ends of the bar to the strainplate, a plurality of means associated-with the plate and adapted to(ad-operate with th free ends oflthe rods whereby the radius ofcurvature of-the-loar may be either increased-0r decreased by changingthe eo-operatloh of the free ends of to the last said means. SAMUEL S.MATTHES.

